Evolution
by Some1tookmyname
Summary: Booth does some thinking about the squints and about Brennan. One shot tag for Hole in the Heart, not necessarily just about what we didn't see.


_Me again with another one shot. Post Hole in the Heart, I guess a tag for it, really (me and 100 other authors, I know.) These characters still aren't mine. I can't get Hart Hanson or anyone at Fox to fork them over. The first line is from Dashboard Confessional's song "Stolen" which I love, but this is IN NO WAY a songfic. I promise. That song wouldn't fit this story anyway. _

_Thanks to Jen , jsq, for her advice and to all who have left me reviews in the past. It means a lot when you take the time to leave a response. There are a few of you who have been especially encouraging. You know who you are. Special thanks to you._

**Evolution**

"We all look like we feel."

The song lyric came into Booth's mind as he surveyed his group of friends. They looked tired. Worn out. Overwhelmed.

Grieving. His friends looked like they were grieving. They _were_ grieving.

God, poor Vincent. Poor all of them. It shouldn't have been like this. It shouldn't have involved his friends.

The next thought that came into his head was to wonder at what exact moment this ragtag team of scientists and FBI had become _friends_. They weren't just his coworkers or his team or his people. They were his friends.

Had there been a defining moment? Had there been one singular instance, either collectively or individually, that each of them had evolved from the "work person" column to the "friend" column?

Cam had been his friend long before the rest. Well, friend and more, but mostly friend. Had it been Cam who had unknowingly been the one to bridge the gap to friendship for all of them as a group?

No. That wasn't right.

Maybe Angela had blurred the lines. The least squinty of the Squint Squad, with her not so subtle innuendos and her desire to blend them all together as one during a disastrous Christmas their first year together. That could be. Or not.

Perhaps it was Hodgins, asking him to be his Best Man way back when.

That didn't seem right either, though. Booth knew he was Best Man by default. It should have been Zack.

Zack. He was missing from the fold now, but maybe it was him in that goofy hat at the diner so long ago.

"Listen, Bones. Hey, there is more than one kind of family."

That moment seemed telling, but it hadn't belonged to Zack despite the fact that it was his celebration. In fact, more than anything, Zack had interrupted that moment.

If Booth was being really honest with himself he knew exactly how he got where he was now, with these brainiacs as his friends.

It was her.

They'd been a package deal, Bones and her squints. She may have blackmailed him into full participation all those years back but they all came along for the proverbial ride that time and every time since.

She was their glue. She wasn't, by everyday standards, necessarily good with people, but those she loved and those who loved her were fiercely loyal. Even Sweets belonged because of her. He was her Baby Duck, not really his. She was sometimes irritated by Sweets, often quick to dismiss him, but she liked him and related to him. And so he was in, too.

He watched her as she accepted another drink from Hodgins, reminiscing with their friends. They shared memories and someone, maybe Angela, said that she was going to have "Da Lime and Da Coconut" stuck in her head for days now.

Bones was the reason. He had told her that day in front of the diner that there were all different kinds of families and he'd _meant _for her to think he was talking about the squints and him, but he'd really just meant him. He wanted to be her family. She could have the squints. He just wanted her.

Even then he'd loved her. When he thought about it now he realized once again that he couldn't remember a time when he didn't love her.

Yes, they had danced around it. Yes, they had hurt each other. Yes, for many of their steps forward they had taken two steps back. Yes, there were walls and anger and imperviousness and yes, there were lines drawn and distance sought and so much fear he could sometimes taste it.

But he'd loved her. Kept on loving her, even when he said he wouldn't. Even when he tried to make himself believe that he didn't.

And the squints? Well, they came with her. Like any family would. You find the right woman and you get her family, too. The watchful, wary sisters, the filterless kid brother, the crazy cousins, they are all yours too, now.

He had found the right woman, the only woman. He'd always known it was her. Finally, in the early hours of just that morning, in an emotion laden tangle of tears and soothing and fears and feelings and all the words they had been desperate to say and hear for so damn long, they had come together in a way they never had before.

He'd hovered over her, his eyes questioning just one last time, before it was too late, before he couldn't undo it all and she ran and he'd be lost again. He knew it was too late anyway. He wouldn't live through another rejection from her. But he'd had to ask.

"Are you sure?" He'd whispered. "This will change everything." It wasn't really a warning, just a statement. A fact. There would be no going back. He'd held his breath.

She'd stroked her fingers up his back, the tips trailing over the skin of his shoulders and neck, up to his cheek, where her hand stilled and he leaned into her palm.

"I…I want this change. I need this. I need _you_." She'd let out shakily, the sincerity and desire in her eyes mirrored right back in his own. "It's not about today." She promised. "You are what I want. Just…us. I want us."

It hadn't taken any more than that. He'd never in his wildest dreams dared imagine any instance where he would hear such words from her. It had nearly been his emotional undoing. He remembered they'd both trembled as they had joined together and for him he knew it wasn't just a physical reaction. He hadn't thought it was solely physical for her, either.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he realized that everyone was putting their coats on, heading down the platform towards home and Bones was standing in front of him.

"You ready?" She seemed…unsure and he realized that she'd never really done this before. She had never really been past the very beginning stages of a real relationship. He could tell she wasn't certain what was to happen beyond the leap they'd taken this morning. He understood that when she'd linked her arm through his earlier, she was telling him she was still there with him, if he'd have her.

"Yeah, Bones. I'm ready. You?" He stood and smiled, tried to convey that he was ready for more than just going home. That he was ready to continue on with her, with this thing that they were building.

She got it. He saw her eyes glint in that way that they did when she understood that what he said was one thing, but what he meant was something else entirely. She linked her arm through his again and leaned into him. He rested his cheek on her head, just for an instant, in case one of the squints turned around. For now, this was theirs. He wasn't ready to share.

"Take me home, Booth."

"Sure, Bones."

"You'll stay?" she spoke softly, but without fear.

"Yes."

He knew there would never be a time when he'd say no.

She was family. She was home.

~END~

_Reviews are lovely and very appreciated. Thank you!_


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